After more than two years of meetings and drafting language, Bicycle Colorado announced that the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Transportation Commission has adopted a groundbreaking statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Policy.

According to Bicycle Colorado, “The new policy directs that, ‘…the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians shall be included in the planning, design, and operation of transportation facilities, as a matter of routine…’

Division of Transportation Development Director Jennifer Finch stated, ‘This is a change in philosophy for the Department [of Transportation].’

The policy was moved by Commissioner George Krawzoff and seconded by Commissioner Steve Parker, leading to unanimous votes of support from all 11 commissioners.

Praise for CDOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Betsy Jacobson’s diligent work on the policy was heard from Bicycle Colorado, Ms. Finch, and the Commissioners. Bicycle Colorado’s Executive Director Dan Grunig said, ‘We have passed positive bicycle legislation and overturned bike bans, but passing this policy may be the biggest step we’ve taken towards bicyclists being treated as legitimate road users.’

TWO YEAR PROCESS

Bicycle Colorado worked with CDOT for a number of years encouraging a formal bicycle and pedestrian policy. The Commission instructed CDOT staff in 2007 to begin evaluating its bicycle and pedestrian policies and practices. They convened a series of stakeholder meetings to determine areas to be addressed in policy and procedures. The resulting policy is a product of the input of all the stakeholders representing other state departments, local governments, and user groups. CDOT staff did a thorough job, gathering input from all their internal departments and divisions throughout the process.

NEXT STEPS

Adoption of this policy is a big step but there is still work to do. Implementation is the key to the policy’s success. Executive Director Russ George and the Executive Management Team will issue a Procedural Directive in the next couple of months detailing implementation plans.

The Directive will guide CDOT departments on how to incorporate bicyclist and pedestrian needs into road design, maintenance, transportation planning, education, etc. It will also detail the circumstances when projects may opt out of the policy and how that decision will be made available to the public. Bicycle Colorado will continue to participate in the process to ensure positive results for bicyclists.

Read the story on the Alliance for Biking and Walking website here.

Read the policy here

“Dangerous by Design” examines pedestrian accident rates and a correlation with road and street design.

Download the 84-page report here

Download the Colorado Fact Sheet here

Learn more about Transportation for America by clicking on the link here

Fort Collins officials say newly compiled and detailed statistics categorizing specific types of bike vs. car crashes reveal one overriding lesson: There’s room for all commuters to improve their behavior. (To read the article on the Coloradoan website click here)

“It’s clear looking at this data there is room for improvement for both motorists and bicyclists,” Fort Collins Traffic Engineer Joe Olson said. “Everyone has accountability for making everyone safe.”

Olson and his staff spent about a month’s time compiling the data categorizing bike and car crashes by poring through Fort Collins police crash reports from Jan. 1, 2007, through June 30, 2009. Less detailed statistics also were compiled for reports since 2000, categorizing crashes by noninjury, injury and fatalities.

Reported bike crashes have steadily increased in Fort Collins since 2003, and the most common type of collision reported by far since 2007 is when bicyclists are traveling against traffic and end up in a broadside collision with a car.

The inaugural compilation of the data also revealed that broadside collisions account for more than half of the 25 fatal or severe injury crashes reported since 2007.

There were four fatal crashes between 2000 and June of 2009 — one in 2000, one in 2004, two in 2008 — and in the second half of this year, the city endured one more bicyclist fatality.

The total number of crashes, as well as injury crashes, were fairly consistent between 2000 and 2003, but in 2004, the city saw an increase that has continued year after year with the exception of 2006.

The lowest number of bike and car crashes in Fort Collins since 2000 was in 2001 when there were 102. The highest number was in 2008 when there were 142 crashes.

In 2009, the city is on pace to match the 2008 total.

One thing the data does not account for is the number of cyclists on the road. Olson said there’s no way to come up with concrete ridership numbers. Although Fort Collins bike coordinator Dave “DK” Kemp said the American Community Survey estimates bicycle commuters made up about 5 percent of the city’s population in 2006, growing to 7.4 percent in 2008.

“We’re on the way to the point where motorists can expect to see bicycles everywhere,” Kemp said.

The data, which has already been presented to some city staff members and the city’s citizen transportation advisory board, is intended to finally provide some concrete facts about what is happening on the roads in order to better aid with education efforts and engineering decisions, Olson said.

“We’re trying to identify educational opportunities bicyclists can do to ride safer and motorists can look for,” Olson said. “We want to use this as a tool, either via education or through physical changes to the streets.”

Broadsides are predominant issue

There were 354 bike vs. car crashes from Jan. 1, 2007, through June 30, 2009. About 60 percent of those crashes, or 214, were categorized by city engineers as “broadside” collisions.

Broadsides are defined as any crash when a bicyclist hits or is hit by a car on a perpendicular road.

The most common broadside crash occurs when the bicyclist is riding against traffic, which occurred 123 times, or about four times per month during the 30 months of data compilation.

The Fort Collins statistics put to rest what was once a common belief that the overtaking turn, or “right hook,” was the most common crash.

“There aren’t as many as we generally thought,” said Kemp of the overtaking turn crashes.

Compared to broadside collisions, the overtaking turns accounted for about 13 percent, or 46, of the crashes.

Kemp said the data about the broadside collisions indicate bicyclists need to be driving on the correct side of the road, and drivers need to be on the lookout.

“That really tells us the general message is to start seeing bicycles everywhere,” he said. “We need to really put it in the motorists’ minds that they really need to be looking out for bicyclists.”

The crash classified as a “sideswipe” collision, where an opposite or same direction of travel crash occurs, happened 26 times, accounting for about 7 percent of crashes. Both of the fatalities in 2008 fell into this category.

The fatality in the second half of 2009, which is not accounted for in the data, would have been classified as a broadside collision.

Most dangerous crossings

At age 62, Bill Jenkins is an avid bicyclist, and each day, he rides to and from work down Shields Street and turns onto Plum Street, a block north of one of the most dangerous intersections in Fort Collins: Shields and Elizabeth streets.

The intersection is one of a handful of intersections in Fort Collins that Olson and his staff have identified as crossings where nine or more bike vs. car crashes have occurred since Jan. 1, 2007.

“I can see why,” said Jenkins, a member of the city’s citizen transportation advisory board. “I’ve gone through there a few times and it’s just a hard intersection with all the bikes, cars and the lights there.”

Plum and Elizabeth streets are major roads for the thousands of CSU students who walk, ride and drive to campus from apartments and homes just west of campus.

Kemp said a map the city built reflecting Old Town and the campus west areas as the most dangerous in the city reaffirm the belief that Colorado State University students are a group that would benefit greatly from education efforts.

The Plum and Elizabeth intersections are also spots where not only education efforts but engineering changes could benefit bicyclists. Kemp said the crossings are prime spots for a “bike box,” or a colored bike lane at the front of an intersection where vehicles are required to wait behind bicycles until a light turns green.

Olson said the bike box, which is used in cities such as Portland, Ore., is something Fort Collins is considering implementing.

Jenkins said he’d be receptive to the idea of creating bike boxes throughout the city.

“When you use the bicycle box, that will raise the consciousness of drivers to another level,” he said. “It would certainly make the drivers more aware of what’s going on.”

Educational opportunities

After moving from Seattle to Fort Collins within the past year, 31-year-old Brian Kerin said he was hopeful he’d be encountering a bike-friendly environment.

Unfortunately, he said, his experiences on the roads have been filled with drivers angry at bicyclists.

“It just appears to me there was a general understanding in Seattle that bikes are allowed to be on the roads, and I don’t see that here,” Kerin said.

Kemp and Jenkins both said they hope the recently compiled bike crash data will further efforts to inform both drivers and bicyclists.

“We’re excited to see this data. We are beginning to mature as a bicycle culture in terms of our ability to get along out there,” Kemp said. “We have a pretty ingrained bike culture in terms of a lot of people doing it, but in terms of respect on the road, we’re sort of in our infancy.”

Jenkins said he thinks the data will help bike advocacy groups get on the same page about what issues need to be addressed through education.

“We can emphasize the real problems,” he said. “My experience with different bike groups is that everyone has their favorite bad thing to emphasize. This will kind of focus everyone.”

Kerin, who works at Fort Collins Brewery and frequently bikes to work through Old Town, said he hopes education efforts reach bicyclists as much as drivers.

Kemp said the city plans to incorporate the city’s data into education efforts and into the 2010 updated city bike maps.

“There’s no one out there that thinks bikes are the angels of the road,” he said. “There’s a lot of bad bike behavior and a lot of bad car behavior.”

Course Description: The Traffic Skills 101 class teaches cyclists the proven techniques they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The class covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual. This fast-paced, nine-hour, insured certification course presents the tools you need via a half-classroom, and half on-bike experience to give you a full understanding and confidence in vehicular cycling.

The course will be taught by BikeDenver League Cycling Instructors (LCIs). LCIs are League of American Bicyclists (LAB) certified experts in bicycle education and safety. Traffic Skills 101 is a prerequisite for LAB Instructor classes.  BikeDenver trainers have certified 23 Traffic Skills 101 participants and 10 new LCI’s in 2009.

The course fee of $75 covers your manual and instructor fees.

Participants will need to bring their own bicycle and helmet and be prepared to ride in cold weather.

Sessions will be held in the evening in the 3rd Floor Conference room from 6-9pm on three successive Mondays, November 9, 16, and 23.

Refreshments will be provided.

Bike parking is available outside and inside the building.

Class size is limited to 15 to ensure a 5:1 Instructor ratio.

See the LAB website for additional detail here

Register by November 5th to secure your place by contacting Instructor Bob Knipps - bknipps(at)comcast.net or Piep van Heuven - piep(at)bikedenver.org.

BFF YouTube PromoWhat’s it all about? The Bicycle Film Festival is a festival that celebrates the bicycle through music, art, and film. Now in year 9, the festival will be celebrated in 39 cities worldwide and attract over 250,000 participants. It’ll be in Denver for the first time from October 28 - November 1, 2009.

Founder and Director Brendt Barbur says: “The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle in all forms and styles. If you can name it - Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Bike Polo, Road Cycling, Mountain Biking Recumbents - we’ve probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance? We bring together all aspects of bicycling to advocate its ability to transport us in various ways. Ultimately the BFF is about having a good time.”

The Schedule:

Wednesday 28 October
CRUISER RIDE
BIKES ROCK Doors at 9:00PM
Beta - 1909 Blake St.

Thursday 29 October
Joyride Art Show
7 - 11PM
Lisa Kowalski Gallery - 2762 Walnut St.

Friday 30 October
Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli - 900 Auraria Pkwy
7:00 PM | Program 1 - Where are you go
9:00 PM | Program 2 - Fun Bike Shorts
“We Like Bike” Bar Crawl - 9PM Starting at Starz

Saturday 31 October
Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli - 900 Auraria Pkwy
3:00 PM | Program 3 - Klunkerz
5:00 PM | Program 4 - BMX Program
7:00 PM | Program 5 - Road to Roubaix
8:30 PM | Night of the Living - Photo Scavenger Hunt
9:00 PM | Program 6 - Urban Bike Shorts
Afterparty - 9PM Lisa Kowalski Gallery - 2762 Walnut St.
11:30 PM | Guerilla Fashion Parade hosted by The Fabric Lab

Sunday 1 November
Bike Polo x Bike Soccer - 1PM
Mallet Mafia presents Bike Polo, Track Shack presents Bike Soccer
Civic Center Park - Broadway and 14th Ave.

Get more information on the Bicycle Film Festival and purchase tickets here.

Get more information on the Wednesday Cruiser Ride and Bikes Rock Party here.

Join the Halloween Mall Crawl: The Denver Cruisers are also planning a Halloween Mall Crawl on October 31st. Meet at 9:40pm at the Circle of Death, ride to Governor’s Park, ride the 16th Street Mall at 12:01am and proceed to Paramount for post-ride libations. For more information on this event visit the Denver Cruisers website here.

Ride your Bike to Starz FilmCenter: You’ll be able to park your bike courtesy of BikeDenver at the Starz Film Center - we need your donation to help support our bike parking program and our advocacy efforts in Denver. Show our great volunteers some love by bringing some of your green for us so we can keep working to make Denver a better place to ride your bike!

Support BikeDenver, we’re YOUR local bike advocacy organization! You can become a $35 member right now on our website (click here) or support us by purchasing a membership at the BFF event and join at an event-special $25 rate. All contributions make a difference, so thanks for supporting YOUR local grassroots bike advocacy organization.

The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) would set aside an average of 2.4 percent of revenues generated by the Act each year to help states and metropolitan areas reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they grow and change in the years to come. Half of the funds would support a competitive grants program for transportation projects and smart growth strategies that help reduce emissions and the planning needed to better account for and curb emissions. The other half would support the expansion of public transportation.

“That the Senate mark more than doubles the amount the House bill would dedicate to clean transportation options represents major progress for communities across America,” said Geoff Anderson, president of Smart Growth America and co-chair of the Transportation for America coalition. “Senators Boxer and John Kerry (D-MA) the primary authors, deserve enormous credit for recognizing the role that reduced transportation emissions must play, and for including measures that will help create affordable options as oil supplies tighten and fuel prices rise in the years ahead.”

The Act substantially incorporates language from a separate bill known as CLEAN-TEA, sponsored by Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) and co-sponsored by senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bill Nelson (D-FL). The CLEAN-TEA sponsors’ support was critical in securing meaningful transportation provisions in the Senate bill.

“Transportation contributes nearly one-third of the total annual climate-harming emissions in the U.S., and has to be a key part of the solution,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “S. 1733 contains common-sense policies and funding that promise cleaner, safer and more affordable transportation options for all Americans, and will help create green jobs.  As the bill moves through the Senate and the understanding of the importance of clean transportation grows, our coalition hopes to see a funding level closer to 5 percent of revenues. We urge members of the Senate to unite behind this essential legislation.”

###

(Joint release by Transportation for America and Smart Growth America. See the release here. )

Kickstand magazine is hosting one of the twenty Yahoo! Purple Pedals cruiser bicycles in the Denver metro area through the month of October.

The purple bicycle is equipped with a solar battery powered camera that takes a photo approximately every 60 seconds and automatically uploads it to a Flicker account, thereby creating a visual diary of everywhere the bicycle goes.

Kickstand magazine, the national lifestyle publication that focuses on cruiser bicycles and the people who ride them, is based in Denver and is excited about hosting the Purple Pedal bike.

“There is such a rich bicycle culture in Denver and along the Front Range, there’s a lot for this bicycle to take in during the Denver International Film Festival,” said Brad K. Evans, publisher of Kickstand magazine. “From cruiser rides downtown to being on the red carpet during the Denver Film Society’s International Film Festival, the Purple Pedal bike’s camera will have a lot to record.”

The bike, paid for and equipped by Yahoo!, is part of the Purple Pedals Project and are not owned by any one individual. They are loaned to individuals who then take them on various adventures around the globe, the images from which get uploaded onto the Internet for all to see.

To see images from the Purple Pedals bicycles, find out where each bicycle is right now and make comments about the photos, check out www.purplepedals.com

For a schedule of when and where the Purple Pedals bike will be ridden in Denver during the month of November, check out kickstandmag.com . To learn more about Purple Pedals and to find out where the other bikes are, check out www.purplepedals.com

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Click here to view the ACS journey to work results for the 70 largest US cities, including the 27 largest Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFCs), since 2000. Note that Denver bike commuting has increased by 67% since 2000!

Click here to view the ACS journey to work results for the 50 US states (and Puerto Rico). Use the tabs at the bottom for bicycle commuters and walking commuters. The sheets also include the amount of federal dollars spent on bicycle and pedestrian project between 2000 and 2008.

Here is a summary of bicycle commuting levels in the US over the past eight years.

On average, the 70 largest cities in the US, from New York City (population eight million) to Plano, Texas (population 259,000), had higher bicycle commuter levels and larger increases than the national average. The average bicycle commuter share for the largest 70 US cities in 2008 was 0.93 percent, having grown by nearly 50 percent since 2000.

Among the 70 largest cities, the 27 that have been designated by the League of American Bicyclists as Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFCs) for their pro-bicycling policies saw even higher levels of bicycle commuting and greater increases over the past eight years. In 2008, the average BFC bicycle commuter share was 1.5 percent, nearly three times the national average. BFCs also grew 60 percent more than the national average and 40 percent more than the 70 largest city average.

Bicycle Friendly Communities far outpaced the 43 largest non-BFCs, whose average bicycle commuter share is growing slower than even the national average. Between 2000 and 2008, the bicycle commuter share in the 27 largest BFCs increased by nearly 70 percent. In contrast, the share in the non-BFC cities increased only 23 percent, to 0.57 percent. This strongly suggests that the efforts of the BFCs to improve bicycling conditions by investing in engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation and planning are paying off with larger increases in bicycle commuters.

Some of the fastest growing communities were those that started with relatively low bicycle commuter shares in 2000. Nashville and Cleveland tripled their share, and Cincinnati doubled its, but all three still have not reached three-quarters of a percent. On the other hand, some the cities with the highest bicycle commuter levels in 2000 also saw some of the largest increases. Platinum BFC Portland, OR saw the largest growth among all 70 large cities, more than tripling their bike share, to nearly 6 percent.

For more information please visit the League of American Bicyclist’s blog here

Included in the updates were items in the Bicycle Safety Act that recently took effect. In addition, edits gave clearer explanations of existing laws involving bicycles and pedestrians and create a new section dedicated on how to avoid crashes.

This statewide handbook update is an important opportunity to educate motorists and bicyclists on the rights and responsibilities that each have on Colorado roads. Thanks to Bicycle Colorado for their leadership in designing and writing the bicycle-specific language and to the Division of Motor Vehicles for partnering with the bicycle community.

Quick Links:

New Bicycle Section Pg. 30 (80 KB PDF) - Here

Share the Road with Bicycles Section Pg. 26 (116 KB PDF) - Here

Download Entire Handbook (2.9 MB PDF) - Here
 

DENVER— Coming off a 1,350 person ride to finish their 2009 summer season, the Denver Cruisers will be back on the streets this fall, and are hosting CRUISAROO:
BANDS • BIKES • BROUHAHA. Yup, Denver Cruisers will again be taking to the streets with costumes and cruiser bikes on Wednesday October 28, 2009. The ride will launch from The Ginn Mill at 2140 Larimer Street, and then take to the streets with thousands of costumed bicycle riders in tow.

CRUISAROO! will feature several well-known musical acts at BETA, however these are only being billed as ‘super secret’ internationally known bands - so secret that no one will know who these bands are until they take the stage that night. The Cruiser ride will end at BETA nightclub after a stop known to many Denver Cruisers as the ‘Circle of Death.’ This is a perfect kickoff party and funtime for the Halloween Weekend!

WHAT: Cruiser Ride and Rock Concert with ‘super secret’ performances by internationally known bands and music by DJ Ginger

WHEN: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 • 7pm – 2:00am

WHO: Denver Cruisers and Kickstand Magazine Present CRUISAROO! BANDS, BIKES & BROUHAHA, With Sponsors: 42 BELOW Vodka • Great Divide Brewing • DenverFunTimes.com

WHERE: Cruiser Ride starts at the Ginn Mill, 2041 Larimer St., and ends with a concert at BETA Nightclub at 1909 Blake Street.

COST: $12 ADVANCE/ $15 DOS

Denver Cruiser founder, Brad K. Evans, started the Denver Cruiser Ride back in 2005 and has been hosting this Wednesday tradition in downtown Denver every since. With more than 1,000 riders dressed in costume every week during the 2009 summer season, this weekly ride has become a Denver institution, and is considered to be one of the largest organized weekly rides of its kind in the U.S. CRUISAROO! is presented in part by Kickstand Magazine, a nationally distributed cruiser bicycle lifestyle magazine, created and published in Denver, CO.

More info about CRUISAROO! Can be found at www.cruisaroo.com.